This invention relates generally to medical devices and more particularly to a needle safety device for safely closing a needle up a catheter.
Intravascular devices such as catheter assemblies are generally used for passing fluids between a device such as a syringe or a drip to or from body lumens such as veins or arteries, or other internal target sites. Such an assembly usually includes a hub, a catheter tube, and a needle. An eyelet ring is typically inserted into the catheter. The catheter tube, together with the eyelet ring, is then inserted into an opening in the nose of the hub and is secured to the hub by press fitting the eyelet ring within the nose of the hub. This hub and tube assembly is then mounted over a sharp needle which is in turn attached to a plastic hub. The sharp tip of the needle is used for piercing a body lumen so that access may be gained into the body lumen by the needle and subsequently the catheter. Once the catheter and the needle are located within the body lumen, the needle is removed and discarded while the catheter tube remains in the body lumen. A syringe or a tube of a drip is then attached to the hub so that fluids may be passed through the hub and the catheter between the drip or the syringe and the body lumen. The hub is typically made of materials that provide sufficient rigidity to securely attach drip lines thereto and the catheter tube is usually made of material which is flexible and soft to minimize bodily injury.
To prevent the used sharpened distal tip of a needle from inadvertently piercing the skin of a healthcare worker, a cover may be used in conjunction with an inner shield to cover the needle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,408, issued to Partika (Partika) represents an example of a device used in the art. In Partika, levers and teeth secure the needle such that the needle does not extend outside of a housing. More particularly, one lever arm is configured with an aperture for receiving the needle and the distal end of the lever arm contacts the inner surface of the housing. However, this assembly is not stable since the lever arm contacts only one point of the assembly. The assembly may become detached if a force is applied to the proximal end of the lever arm. It is therefore desirable to have an assembly that increases the stability of the needle within a housing to prevent dislodgement of the assembly.
An apparatus and a method are disclosed for a needle safety device comprising a needle having a proximal and a distal end, a flexible member having a proximal and distal end and an aperture to receive the needle, and a housing. The proximal and distal end of the flexible member contacts the housing at a first point located near the proximal end of the housing and at a second point located near the distal end of the housing. Additional features, embodiments, and benefits will be evident in view of the figures and detailed description presented herein.